Lunsford said of this song, "I've known it since 1901 when I heard Fred Moody, then a high school boy, sing it down in Burke County." [1], calling it "a fine type of indigenous American banjo song extant in the Great Smoky and Blue Ridge mountain region of the south, and has numerous unrelated stanzas born out of the hilarity of mountain banjo 'picking." [2]

These are good grounds for treating this composition as public domain.

Alternative Versions

Mole in the Groundby Logan English album released in 1962 (according to folkways.si.edu): SpotifyAccording to this album's liner notes, credit for this version is assigned to Bascom Lamar Lunsford, with the exception to the lyrics of the last verse.

Mole in the Groundby Basom Lamar Lunsford album released in 1953 (according to folkways.si.edu): SpotifyLunsford never claimed credit for writing or arranging this song (see above)